Of all the major franchises out there, few have taken such a disastrous fall from grace as the Medal of Honor series. Looking back at recent releases in the series, it's hard to imagine that back in the day's of the PSOne, the Medal of Honor franchise was at the very forefront of innovation and quality in a genre that was only just coming into its own in the console market. Even when the PS2 came out, the Medal of Honor series was still flexing its considerable muscles in a more crowded genre with the epic scale and production values that accompanied the last decent title in the series; Allied Assault. Since then however, things have simply gone from bad to worse, with an array of below par titles across every format that relied upon a formula and framework that was, even then, well past its sell by date.

Although the epic battles remained, they now felt disconnected and far too linear. Rising Sun was a simply appalling game that not only took a step backward from Allied Assault, but also showed up the series for what it had become; stale, linear and worst of all, simply lazy. Since the release of Rising Sun there has been a slight improvement, but, considering just how crowded the genre has now become with triple-A titles, combined with the, shall we say, somewhat tarnished reputation of the series, EA must have been all too aware that they had to pull something pretty special out of the hat for their first Medal of Honor release on a next-gen console. So, have EA done it? Have they released a game worthy of the MoH legacy? More importantly, have they released a game that can complete with the heavyweights of the genre? Well... just about.

Medal of Honor: Airborne is by far and away the best the series has had to offer since Allied Assault and is without question the first time that the series has felt innovative and fresh in any way for many years. However, as greatly improved as Airborne is on previous titles, in today's market it comes across as little more than a solid shooter. Those who choose to take up the rallying call will definitely not come away disappointed, but with titles such as BioShock on the shelves and the almighty Halo 3 just around the corner, it probably just isn't worth your time. It may well stand up a little better on PS3 where the competition is a little less stiff, but on the 360 it's nothing more than a solid Championship team coming up against a plethora of Premiership opposition.

The main problem with Airborne is that it takes so long to get going. For the first few levels, the game relies far too much on its major innovation of choosing your own landing spot as you parachute down into the warzone at the start of each level. Don't get me wrong, this isn't a bad idea and it's not nearly as gimmicky as other reviews may have led you to believe - it's just that, once you actually land, the missions, be they linear or not, simply aren't that exciting. When the game gets into its stride for the last half of the game, it all starts coming together quite nicely; it's just such a shame that it takes so damn long to get there. When it does get their however, you really start to remember why you used to love the series before it became bland and dated. With the exciting, open-ended objectives and epic-scale, intense combat returning, all the signs are there for Medal of Honor to retake its place at the top of the war-based FPS genre. As I said though, it's such a shame that it takes so long to get going. Although solid, the gameplay mechanics aren't good enough to hold up against the poor level design and boring objectives that you have to put up with for the first half of the game.

As already mentioned, Medal of Honor: Airborne has a major new innovation up its sleeve, charging you with parachuting into each mission, thus allowing you to choose your starting point. Although there is a green area, which is pretty much the safest place to land, an array of hidden green spots combined with the chance to be a little creative gives the start of each mission real importance. EA have clearly put some effort into the parachuting mechanics, as landing where you want is often far from a foregone conclusion. It's not simply a matter of deciding "I want to land there", as often you will simply misjudge your flight and find yourself immediately thrown into the middle of a firefight. This kind of fear keeps the opening very entertaining as, more often that not, landing in the middle of a battle with no cover means you are going to end up dead sooner rather than later. The parachuting also allows for a little player innovation, as you can quite happily ignore the green area and, say, land on a rooftop, survey the area and maybe take out a few Nazis from the safety of your position before moving on with your objectives. Okay, so, invisible walls keep you going too crazy, but this is still an interesting aspect of the gameplay and certainly benefits the experience found in Airborne rather hindering it.

Once you do land, well, you guessed it, there are Nazis and lots of them. I think you get the gist of the story by now. You're an allied soldier, fighting the evil of the Nazi machine, etc., etc. This is another real problem with Airborne. Although through no fault of its own, due to the huge amount of WWII releases over the past few years, there is simply no way to make the story interesting or fresh. You know the enemy, you know how it turns out and you have met the array of clichéd WWII based NPCs a million times before. The fact that the Call of Duty franchise has now moved on to the present day with Modern Warfare shows how repetition is starting to creep into the genre in a big way - that's not to say we shouldn't give Airborne a chance, just don't go expecting any innovative weaponry or storylines.

This aside however, the gameplay mechanics once you land are pretty solid. The fact that you can choose your objectives really helps open up the levels too. Each objective flashes on your radar and you are left to attack them in any order you see fit. This does ease the issues of linearity that plagued the last few games in the series, but once again, many of the objectives, for the first half of the game at least, come across as boring and very much by the numbers; blow up that tank, kill those soldiers, take out those AA guns and so on. Luckily, due to epic scale of the levels, of which there are only six, you still feel as though you are part of something big, thus giving these more mundane tasks a more exciting edge. It's at this point that you realise just how big some of these levels are - there may only be half a dozen of them, but each one is going to take a fair while to battle through, with each really encouraging exploration of the large, open-ended environments.

The combat in Airborne is also pretty solid. Although the basic mechanics are pretty similar to the Call of Duty franchise, the inclusion of a few new tricks does bring a surprising amount to the battles as a whole. Although clearly from the Gears of War school of gameplay, the inclusion of a sprint button and a newfound importance in using cover through the 'ironsights' mechanic brings a more tactical edge to gameplay that is lacking from a lot of other WWII shooters. The sprint button is quite self-explanatory and lets you sprint from one spot to another in the midst of battle. You will come to realise just how important this is as soon as you decide stop and take a look around, as it really is surprising just how quickly your health disappears when anywhere near an ongoing firefight. Linked to this, the 'ironsight' mechanic really plays a huge part in battle throughout the game. Pulling the left trigger causes you to look down your scope, after which movement of the left analogue stick allows you to peek around corners or rise above cover for a quick shot. Although this may have done before, never has it been done so well in a WWII FPS and it really emphasises the tactical approach that EA are striving for with Airborne.

The AI is also a huge improvement over previous titles, with enemies successfully using cover to their advantage. Your allies also don't seem to be as dumb as we have come to expect from many a FPS game, also taking cover successfully and doing their fare share of mowing down Nazis. Sure, the AI isn't up to Halo standards by any stretch, and you still get the odd soldier standing right in your way as you are about to take a shot, but this is still above par stuff and again brings a bit more believability to the immersing experience that Airborne delivers. It's a shame then when some of the niggling little problems become apparent. For one, the hit detection is simply terrible. It's the same old effects each time you hit an enemy and that's if you are lucky enough for the enemy to react to the bullet you just put in his leg in any way at all. The recoil on some of the guns is also a bit much at times too, especially given the Terminator-like accuracy of your Nazi foes. Although these are not game breaking flaws, they do become frustrating elements that tarnish the otherwise solid experience that Airborne has to offer.

After the rather lacklustre looking Rising Sun and Vanguard, it's a pleasant surprise to see just how much effort has gone into the look of Airborne. It may not have the wow factor of Gears of War, but compared to early previews that suggested another rather ugly looking Medal of Honor outing, it seems EA have really put some work into the graphics of the game. This is no more the case than when you are parachuting down onto the levels. From the sky, the detailed levels are full of life as you slowly descend to your destination. Textures throughout are pretty clear and enemy soldiers are generally varied enough to keep things as interesting as one could hope from a WWII FPS.

The sound effects and score however are another matter; it is here that EA have once again excelled. The sound of war really is immersing, with explosions coming through load and clear, even if they do look shockingly poor at times. The conversation of Allied soldiers also lends added weight to the experience and, combined with the expectedly epic score and great sounding weaponry, the audio is once again one of Medal of Honor's strongest points.

The online aspect of Medal of Honor is also a bit of a treat. Although not huge in regards to options, the maps on offer are technically well designed. There are no major problems with lag and the two to twelve player action moves at an enjoyable pace. The parachuting aspect of gameplay also really comes into its own here as you all drop into together, watching as your enemies choose their positions on the ground. The tactical advantage of good parachuting is really made apparent here as you drop in on a sniper or a well placed enemy from above.

Medal of Honor: Airborne is ultimately made for those who can make it through the lacklustre first half of the game. Persevere and you will be rewarded with some of the best action that WWII shooters have had to offer in a long time. For the rest, the grind might just be a little too much. Luckily, even if you can't face the single player game, there really is a solid online component to be found here. Medal of Honor has stumbled its way back on track; it's just a shame that the competition might be a little too much to keep it there for long.

Reviewed by Liam Pritchard for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).